Infants born in and around Bangkok are being fitted with mini face shields as an extra protective measure against the Wuhan coronavirus. Other hospitals in Thailand are doing the same, reports revealed this week.
Staff at Praram 9 Hospital in Bangkok said they implemented the practice “because safety is our utmost concern” in a Facebook statement on Friday. The face shields were designed to provide new mothers giving birth at the hospital “peace of mind,” BBC Thailand reports, adding that the mini visors are meant to be worn temporarily, as when the babies are transported from hospital to home.
Designed to repel moisture droplets carrying the virus from coughs or sneezes, the clear plastic shields are fitted away from the babies’ faces, with a foam strip over the forehead creating a distance between the face and the visor.
Babies are at risk from the Wuhan coronavirus, although less so than other demographics, such as older people.
On February 2, a Chinese newborn was diagnosed with coronavirus just 30 hours after birth, the youngest case recorded so far. The baby was born in Wuhan, China – the epicenter of the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic – to a woman who had tested positive for the virus herself before she gave birth, Chinese state media reported. It was unclear how the virus was transmitted, whether in the womb or after birth.
On Friday, a one-day-old infant was reported to have died from the coronavirus in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana.
Thailand reported its first case of Wuhan coronavirus in January. On March 26, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha placed the country under a one-month state of emergency to help curb the spread of the coronavirus. The state of emergency gives Thailand’s government the power to implement curfews, dispense gatherings, and deploy military forces to enforce coronavirus restrictions. The law governing public administration in emergency situations also empowers the government to censor the media.
On Friday, Thailand reported 50 new coronavirus cases and one new death, bringing its total number of coronavirus infections to 2,473 and its number of deaths to 33 at press time on Friday.
On April 1, reports of Buddhist monks in Thailand wearing custom-made sanitary face masks and shields circulated throughout Thai media. The monks designed the masks to protect them from the Wuhan coronavirus while out collecting alms.
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